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Web-based Learning Solutions for Communities of Practice

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Conditions and Key Success Factors <strong>for</strong> the Management <strong>of</strong> <strong>Communities</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Practice</strong><br />

or as a pilot project in order to assess staff reaction<br />

(Indiana University); and in others, such as<br />

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, CoP are created and<br />

their staff is <strong>for</strong>ced to become a part <strong>of</strong> them. In<br />

this last case, both the spontaneity <strong>of</strong> creation <strong>of</strong><br />

communities and the voluntary participation <strong>of</strong><br />

their members comes into question, which may<br />

justify why they should probably be referred to<br />

by another name. However, the implementation<br />

<strong>of</strong> these community <strong>for</strong>ms has been a success <strong>for</strong><br />

the company, since it has achieved the objectives<br />

originally set. So is it really indispensable <strong>for</strong> the<br />

creation <strong>of</strong> communities to be spontaneous and<br />

led by members?<br />

It is also true that any change today (especially<br />

in small and medium-sized enterprises) towards<br />

knowledge management or towards the creation<br />

<strong>of</strong> value-<strong>based</strong> on individual competencies entails<br />

important organization restructuring (as can be<br />

seen in the case <strong>of</strong> the Basque Country automotive<br />

company). <strong>Communities</strong> <strong>of</strong> practice can facilitate<br />

these goals as they are <strong>based</strong> on the transfer <strong>of</strong><br />

knowledge in order to create value. So, even if<br />

CoPs are promoted, it’s important to consider that<br />

achieving success requires respecting the identity<br />

basis, generating the truth between members<br />

and considering also the individual goals. This<br />

is in line with what Thompson (2005), <strong>based</strong> on<br />

a single case study, identified as the distinction<br />

between a Seeding and a Controlling Structure.<br />

In the case in which communities are <strong>for</strong>med due<br />

to an organizational initiative and attendance is<br />

mandatory, it would most likely evolve to some<br />

other knowledge mechanism, possibly more focused<br />

to transferring explicit knowledge, which<br />

can be interesting in order to save costs, mostly at<br />

the beginning, but does not yield the results that a<br />

community sharing tacit knowledge yields.<br />

Can <strong>Communities</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Practice</strong> be<br />

Structurally Designed?<br />

Following along the lines <strong>of</strong> the previous argumentation,<br />

there is another controversy that is<br />

important to clarify. According to CoP’s theoretical<br />

background, communities <strong>of</strong> practice are<br />

not units that can be designed – in this context<br />

design is understood as a systematic, planned,<br />

and reflexive colonization <strong>of</strong> time and space in<br />

the service <strong>of</strong> a task, while it may not only include<br />

the production <strong>of</strong> artifacts, but also the design <strong>of</strong><br />

social processes such as organizations or education.<br />

Authors reiterate in any discussion on the<br />

design <strong>of</strong> learning—which cannot be designed<br />

because it belongs to the environment <strong>of</strong> experience<br />

and practice—that communities <strong>of</strong> practice<br />

have already existed <strong>for</strong> a long time and are not<br />

a new fashion in design or a type <strong>of</strong> pedagogical<br />

organization or device to be implemented. <strong>Communities</strong><br />

are about content, about learning as a<br />

live experience <strong>of</strong> negotiating meaning, not about<br />

<strong>for</strong>ms. There<strong>for</strong>e, they can be recognized, encouraged,<br />

supported, and nourished, but not designed.<br />

<strong>Learning</strong> cannot be designed either, it can only<br />

be facilitated or thwarted.<br />

The important and critical fact <strong>for</strong> our management-<strong>based</strong><br />

perspective is that infrastructures,<br />

systems, resources, and connections can be chosen<br />

and rein<strong>for</strong>ced in order to nourish communities<br />

<strong>of</strong> practice. As a matter <strong>of</strong> fact, the reflection on<br />

which type <strong>of</strong> community could be interesting at<br />

an organizational level through the dimensions<br />

studied in this research encourages organizations<br />

to create communities <strong>of</strong> practice, but not to design<br />

them. However, it is possible <strong>for</strong> an organization<br />

to understand the type <strong>of</strong> communication needed<br />

at an organizational level, the type <strong>of</strong> community<br />

that can make an impression on potential members,<br />

and the type <strong>of</strong> knowledge that must be shared<br />

in everyday work. With this in<strong>for</strong>mation, the<br />

organization in question should have the ability<br />

to develop communities.<br />

In short, the process <strong>of</strong> developing communities<br />

<strong>of</strong> practice is closer to agriculture (cultivation)<br />

than to architecture (design). Nevertheless,<br />

<strong>based</strong> on the experiences analyzed previously, it<br />

would seem that the role <strong>of</strong> organizations is to<br />

be sensitive to the importance <strong>of</strong> the communi-<br />

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